Seniors Rohan Puri and Naveen Szymkowiak are spending this spring nearly the same way they did during their freshman and sophomore years — preparing for the school musical. But this year, Puri, Szymkowiak, and their fellow cast members have had to make some changes in order to keep tthe production afloat.

“This year, with the limited times and smaller groups, we decided to take songs from multiple shows to highlight the talented students. There will unfortunately not be a set of public performances, but the individual songs have been a wonderful opportunity,” Mr. Tozier, the musical director, explained. 

Even without a live performance, there is potential that community members will still be able to witness some of the talented students perform.

“The 2021 Musical Revue is available to all families within the musical,” Tozier said. “We are entertaining the idea of releasing a few of the songs to the public through YouTube.”

Tozier added that the performance recordings will conclude today, followed by a short period of sound editing before the videos are released.  It has taken a lot of effort from students to perform while also prioritizing safety.

“We have a massive rotating schedule to give stage time for the groups. Sometimes, we would run one group on the stage and a second group in the pit. This would allow us to combine groups while maintaining a safe distance,” Tozier said.

Despite COVID-19 guidelines, the musical has been able to include all students who want to participate. 

“We have just about the same number of students that we have had in the past — between 55 and 65 student actors. With that, we are technically about a month over time because of things like quarantining,” Tozier said. “We wanted to make sure each student is part of the final filming. So, we keep delaying some of the final recordings. We still meet every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.”

For seniors like Syzmkowiak and Puri, it has been difficult to accept that their last time on the NASH stage will look so different than years past.

“There technically is no actual musical, and we don’t have a live performance. Obviously, having to wear masks is different, but we do that in school. [There is] less interaction with the whole cast [and less of the] feeling of a team,” Szymkowiak said.

However, they are trying to be grateful and remain positive.

“It has been overall a good experience but definitely very different because of not being able to do a lot. We have made the best of the situation,” Szymkowiak added.

One of the advantages of this year’s production is the fact that it is a revue, meaning it features a number of different shows.

“More people are given opportunities this year because there are more shows and more parts,” Puri said. “People with bigger parts obviously get more, but everyone still does get a lot of stage time.”

The musical’s date has not been set yet, but the cast is hoping they will get to showcase their hard work be soon.

Even with all of the changes, Puri and Szymkowiak still agree that their time in the NASH musical program is something they will cherish for years to come and are excited to share their work with their families and peers.